Obama to meet with Abe, Hollande, Xi at G-20

Sep. 4, 2013
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Presidents Obama and Putin / JEWEL SAMAD, AFP/Getty Images

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON-President Obama will meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit with France's President Francois Hollande, China's President Xi Jinping and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to a White House official.

The official, who asked not to be identified because the president's schedule for the summit has yet to be released, told USA TODAY there are currently no plans for Obama to have a formal bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but expects the two presidents could have an opportunity to speak on the margins of the various meetings during the summit.

Obama had planned to visit Putin in Moscow for meetings ahead of the G-20, which will be held on Thursday and Friday in St. Petersburg, Russia, but canceled the Moscow trip last month, following a string of disputes, including Russia's decision to grant asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and its blocking of action by the United Nations Security Council against Syria.

One objective for Obama's time at the G-20, which will focus on global economic issues, is to round up support from the international community for military action against Syria.

Obama announced on Saturday that he was seeking congressional authorization for the strike, but he would also like to gain at least moral support-if not military backing-from other countries.

Last week, Hollande announced that France would back military action in Syria.

On Monday, China urged Obama not to take unilateral action against Syria in response to last month's chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus, which killed more than 1,400.

Obama and Xi met in June for two days of wide-ranging talks in Palm Springs, Calif., which was billed as a relationship building moment for the two presidents.

Obama and Abe spoke by phone on Tuesday and Syria was among the topics they discussed, according to a White House statement